ஶ்ரீ க்ரு'ஷ்ண ஶரணாஷ்டகம் ௩

Eight verses by Raghunatha Prabhu on the same refrain as the other Sharanashtakas — Shri Krishna is my refuge — but built on a figure that governs every line. Each epithet is a made-into compound paired with a word that nearly repeats it, so the sound doubles back on itself: who made the fire thin, who made the fruit-seeker fruitful, who made Dhenuka's end, who made Jarasandha decrepit, who made his bow a lotus, who made Shankara auspicious, who made the moon a wretch. The deeds are the familiar ones — Putana purified, Kamsa stained, Trinavarta left windless, Kunti's son brought to his purpose, Sudama made happy, Kubja made lovely, the Kauravas made contemptible — but they arrive as wordplay rather than as narrative. The closing verse changes metre altogether to promise unbroken sight of the lord's play on the bank of the Yamuna.